Abstract: A comparison between results of in vitro and in vivo testing on a selection of personal-care products begins to establish a validation database for in vitro product safety testing.

The race to get newly formulated products through R&D and on the market shelves has long been the cause of many problems for formulators and marketing departments alike. Occasionaly, products going through months of extensive, costly and time-consuming internal research are only discovered not to meetin acceptability standards when tested by external R&D institutes.

We are all aware of the current European legislation on cosmetic testing using animals and the view of consumers demanding products that have not been tested on animals.